18.2. 2. The same Subject continued.
These fertile provinces are always of
a level surface, where the inhabitants are unable to dispute against a
stronger power; they are then obliged to submit; and when they have once
submitted, the spirit of liberty cannot return; the wealth of the
country is a pledge of their fidelity. But in mountainous districts, as
they have but little, they may preserve what they have. The liberty they
enjoy, or, in other words, the government they are under, is the only
blessing worthy of their defence. It reigns, therefore, more in
mountainous and rugged countries than in those which nature seems to
have most favoured.
The mountaineers preserve a more moderate government, because they
are not so liable to be conquered. They defend themselves easily, and
are attacked with difficulty; ammunition and provisions are collected
and carried against them with great expense, for the country furnishes
none. It is, then, a more arduous, a more dangerous, enterprise to make
war against them; and all the laws that can be enacted for the safety of
the people are there of least use.
